Clearcast Newsletter Spring 2012 CLEARCAST NEWSLETTER INTRODUCTION SPRING 2012 Hello from Chris Mundy 4
Editor CLEAR Eleanor Bonnet We’re expanding… 8 Contributors Clearcast Training 2012 11 Anna Morris Getting a bit political 14 Barry Noone Video Game Footage 16 Chris Mundy Get your Supers right first time 18 Danny Turner Important updates to Flash Test software 20 Elliot Lord Gillian Kirby Technology Improvements 22 James Morgan-Yates Getting to know you 24 Jonathan Laury Traffic Department becomes Operations 28 Jo Walker-Davidson Justyna Shala CAST Kristoffer Hammer Hellos, Goodbyes, Promotions and Babies! 32 Michael Haydon Niamh McGuinness Five minutes with a consultant: Dr Mark Ide 34 Paul Garside Inny & Outty 36 Victoria Adomako Micky Vansittart: A Clearcast Profile 38
Design THE BACK PAGE We Made This Dear Jackie 44 www.wemadethis.co.uk Did you Know…? 46
2 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 3 INTRODUCTION
We’ve been very busy over the winter, both clearing copy (we saw a Hello record 63,000 commercials in 2011) and developing a range of new serv - ices designed to make it easier to get your ads to air, and you can read about these inside.
Chris Mundy We’ve bolstered our support for advertisers that are new to TV with a Managing Director dedicated copy executive, and have also published a handy guide with everything you need to know about getting your ads on air and keeping there. Michael Haydon, our new Training Manager, has revamped our training programme for 2012 and it is now also CPD recognized; if you ever wondered what the team do in the morning viewing you’ll now be able to take part in a mock one to find out!
An objective for the whole team last year was to ‘get out more’, not be - cause we’re a bunch of sociophobes (quite the opposite… see Clearcast parties passim) but because we think we can help you better by having a better understanding of how you work. Read on to find out more about how the team went about this.
Also inside we explain why some apparently innocuous charity ads fall foul of rules on political advertising, give you the heads up on supers and flashing, and provide more information on the CARIA ® Agency link we’re launching to minimize the time media buyers spend keying data in for their campaigns.
Hopefully you will get a sense that things don’t stand still very long at Clearcast. If you’d like to find out more about what’s going on, please do look at our courses or get in touch.
Chris www.clearcast.co.uk
4 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 5 We’re expanding… 8 Clearcast Training 2012 11 Getting a bit political 14 Video Game Footage 16 Get your Supers right first time 18 Important updates to Flash Test software 20 Technology Improvements 22 Getting to know you 24 Traffic Department becomes Operations 28 clear
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New Business We’re A helping hand to agencies which are either new to TV advertising or work with us so irregularly that it almost feels like the first time, each expanding… time. A Senior Executive will have more time to dedicate to these agen - cies, so that everything can be explained in more detail when making Kristoffer Hammer submissions online. There will be no additional charge for this service. Head of Policy and Customer Operations
Campaign Planning & Training Useful for advertisers and agencies that would like advice at the early stages of a campaign, to get the creative treatments right for con - tentious sectors or get a claim accepted before the creative work starts.
Our customers can also get help during the approval process, for mo - ments when it starts to feel like it’s getting a bit complicated. The Cam - paign Planner will work alongside the advertiser or agency, highlight their options and save them valuable time. As a part of the Campaign Planning, we also offer bespoke training, which can be helpful for clients that are not fully familiar with the clearance process or have the full overview of what to look out for in the adverting codes.
TV Admin On 10th April this year, Clearcast will expand into four excit - Clearcast will be able to help customers that find the clearance process ing areas: New Business, Campaign Planning & Training, complicated and may not have the resources to follow the clearance. TV Admin and Edit-to-clear. TV, VoD, radio and cinema clearances for the UK and Europe will be offered. The Clearcast TV Admin service will help clients get a submis - You’ll be hearing a lot more from us in coming weeks about these new sion as complete as possible before it is sent for clearance – which will services, but in the meantime, here’s some information to whet your save valuable time later, if additional information is required. The TV appetite: Admin can also arrange for delivery once the ad has been approved.
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Edit-to-clear We will be able to offer some minor editing jobs, such as fixing legal Clearcast supers that fail on duration of hold or font size. We can also do some smaller jobs on fixing ads that fail on flashing images, as well as clock - Training 2012 ing or re-clocking ads. Michael Haydon Training Programme Manager We can also announce we have recently recruited three internal can - didates of very high calibre to work in these brand new areas and they look forward to getting started.
So… watch this space!
I’d like to introduce myself as Clearcast’s new Training Programme Manager and outline some of the exciting changes to our Training Pro - gramme for 2012. Since taking up the post last Autumn, my main goal was to carry out a full review of the courses we offered to the TV in - dustry to search for new opportunities and areas for improvement. This review has led to the design and launch of our new 2012 Pro - gramme and specifically the introduction of a new core training course: The Clearcast Certificate.
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The Certificate is the first formal qualification in Clearcast and we are Our Certificate courses have all been externally accred - pleased to offer it to a range of audiences and in differing proficiency ited by the Continuous Professional Development ( CPD ) levels: service and are supported by the IPA, the UK’s leading trade and professional body for advertising agencies. Agency Certificate This means that whether you work in an advertising Full day course for advertising agencies of all types agency, legal firm or another field, our Certificate courses will count towards your CPD requirement. Advertiser Certificate Full day certificate specifically for advertisers As well as all of the exciting changes to our Training Programme, we Advanced Certificate are continuing to offer our popular bespoke in-house training to Full day course for agencies and advertisers agencies and advertisers alike. Bespoke sessions can provide training Broadcaster Certificate on issues affecting agencies’ main accounts and for their clients we can Half day certificate aimed at broadcasters focus on their specific sector and areas of concern. If you are interested in finding out more with a view to booking a bespoke session, please From our standard Certificates offering a review of the fundamentals, contact us to discuss your requirements. to our Advanced Certificate providing an outline of the Code problem areas, we’re sure you’ll find a course that’s right for you. In 2012, we will continue to cover a range of topics in our bitesize courses , which will be run throughout the year. These mini-sessions Our learning objective is to transfer the essential knowledge and skills provide an in-depth look at specialised sectors where we share our to get ads to air and keep them there. To achieve this, our courses pro - expertise to ensure that future clearances are as smooth as possible. vide practical insight into the clearance process from script to screen and shares our years of experience and expertise. A key aspect of our Training places are limited to 25 per course, so be sure to book your new Certificate Course is the interactive format, which will allow par - place early to avoid disappointment. We look forward to welcoming you ticipants the opportunity to step into our shoes for a mock viewing, to Clearcast very soon and to demystifying the world of TV advertising script surgery, role play and much more. clearance.
The development of our Certificate represents our commitment to high For further details, dates and for our online booking facility please visit standards and professionalism in the industry. We believe that these our website at www.clearcast.co.uk/training.html or alternatively new courses will deliver a standardised skill level making the clearance send an enquiry to: Michael Haydon Training Programme Manager process smoother and more efficient than ever before. [email protected] | 0207 339 4700
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This is a wide-reaching exclusion, which can sometimes cause Getting a Clearcast difficulties when it comes to considering campaigns for cer - tain advertisers. It’s easy to recognise party-political ads but not always bit political as easy to determine whether ads fall into the second category.
Niamh McGuinness Where there is any doubt about the status of an advertiser, we have to Head of Copy Clearance establish through dialogue with the advertiser/agency and possibly some of our own research, whether the company is one whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature. If we think that a company’s aims fall into the political arena, we will not accept their ads for trans - mission on the channels that we clear for. Among others, the Code de - fines objects of a political nature as influencing the outcome of elections or referendums, bringing about changes in the law, influenc - ing policies or decisions of local regional or national governments or influencing public opinion on a matter which in the UK is a matter of public controversy.
The prohibition can leave us in a position of having to reject ads that, although it may have a good cause and message behind it, falls into the broad definition of political and controversial matters. The most Both the Communications Act and the BCAP Code prohibit common reason for refusing to approve an ad is because an organisa - the transmission of political advertising. tion’s main objective is to bring about change in the law or to influence either policy or decisions of governments. Advertisers whose ads are While it could be assumed that this is confined to merely party political not allowed to be transmitted sometimes see this as Clearcast “ban - advertising, the definition of “political” for the purposes of broadcast ning” their ads, which is not strictly true as we are not a regulator and advertising is far wider than that. In fact the section of the BCAP Code advertising is normally banned after it has appeared. that covers political advertising also includes a prohibition on ads for controversial matters which includes campaigning for purposes of in - While we may not be able to clear ads for companies who are political fluencing legislation or executive action by local or national (including in nature, we can work with other advertisers to ensure the content of foreign) governments. their ads does not infringe the Code’s rules.
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In order to simplify matters, there are now two supers to be used de - Video Game pending on where any footage in an ad is taken from on the game disc:
Footage Gameplay (or Gameplay Footage) This super should be used ONLY when the ad features footage that a Paul Garside player would see when they actually play the game. If the entire ad only Copy Group Executive features gameplay footage then there is no need to include the super.
Not Game Footage This super should be used for all other scenes, including cut scenes, pre- or post-game sequences, trailers, replay footage and anything else that can’t be seen when actually playing the game.
It may sometimes be necessary to use both of these supers in the same ad if it features both gameplay and non-game footage. Furthermore, because a number of games are available on more than one games con - sole platform, then the ad should also specify exactly which platform is being featured if this is not apparent from the rest of the ad (e.g. The UK market for console games is huge. With so many new ‘Xbox Gameplay’). games being introduced all the time, marketers quite rightly need to make sure that their ads stand out from the crowd. The CAP note on videogames is worth reading in conjunction with these new guidelines. Have a look at the relevant section on the CAP Advances in technology mean that ads for new games often resemble website , (Broadcast guidance and help notes) which contains lots of film trailers. However, agencies need to be careful that they don’t mis - other useful information on making sure that your video game ads stay lead viewers if an ad for a particular game includes images or sounds on the right side of the line. that are not representative of actual gameplay. The ASA regularly re - ceives, and has upheld complaints about ads that implied scenes – which were specially designed for the ads, did not feature in the games themselves and were superior in nature or quality to the content of the games themselves – were representative of gameplay.
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The judgements on text size are made on ads as seen by the viewer, so Get your Supers allowances must be made for any picture compression effects. right first time For ads made in 16 by 9 aspect ratio (widescreen) the standard size is 16 television lines (not font size 16). Where text of 14 or 15 lines in Justyna Shala height is used, it must be placed on an opaque single coloured block Teleshopping Clearance Manager that shows a clear margin all around the text. The same would apply in cases when typeface, spacing and the background blurs the text. There have been a few recent ASA investigations on legibility of superimposed text in ads, so here’s a little reminder on Even if Supers are in line with the guidance and are 16 lines high and what you need to consider when you include supers in your the font is simple, the background also needs to be considered – specif - ads. ically, any moving background in the main body should be separated.
The general principle of the superimposed text or “Supers” is that it Supers have to be held long enough for viewers to be able to read them. may be used to expand or clarify claims or the offer as well as to resolve The most effective duration should be calculated at the rate five words small ambiguities; it therefore needs to appear on screen at the same per second (0.2 seconds per word) plus two seconds recognition time time as the claim or offer is made. or three seconds if the text contains ten words or more. This is based on three lines of legal text. Abbreviations count as one word each. Post - Supers are not covered in detail by the Code, but rule 3.11 “Qualifica - codes count as two words. The audio content will normally have no ef - tions must be presented clearly” underpins the most important point fect on the calculation of the size and duration of text. that Supers must be legible. There are handy tools on the Clearcast website to help you to The text should be kept to a minimum. Where messages are long or measure up the size as well as the duration of hold of your Supers: complicated, it is unrealistic to expect viewers to be able to absorb www.clearcast.co.uk/superimposed-text.html or contact Mark them, and the ASA may still conclude that an ad does not comply with Hynes or Greg Clement. the Code even if the text does otherwise meet the technical require - ments.
Text must be in lower case with upper case used only for punctuation and in words or abbreviations commonly capitalised.
18 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 19 CLEAR Important updates to Flash Test software
James Morgan-Yates Chief Technology Officer
An ASA adjudication in mid-January 2012 found a TV ad to be in breach of Ofcom guidelines for flashing images and regular patterns and some complainants said the ad had induced symptoms associated with photo-sensitive epilepsy, including a seizure.
As a result, Cambridge Research Systems (manufacturer of the HFPA- X analyser) issued a new version of their analysis software (v3.0.0) which incorporates a refinement to the algorithms to detect the specific type of pattern contained in the ad complained about.
Both the server used for Flash Testing in Adway and the website Flash Test certi ficate showing version number, outlined in red www.onlineflashtest.com were updated to this new version.
If an ad fails flash testing in Adway, to guarantee compliance with Ofcom guidelines, Clearcast can now only accept Flashing certificates created with V3.0.0 or newer of the software, as proof of an ad’s com - pliance. Certificates clearly state the version of software used in the footer of the front page, as shown opposite with the version number shown in red.
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CARIA® Agency Link Technology In December we streamlined the TV media buying process from an entire day down to forty minutes with the new CARIA® Agency Link. improvements We have worked with IMD Optimad and Donovan Data Systems (DDS) to create a campaign export facility from CARIA®, which can James Morgan-Yates be used to import booking information directly into DDS and other Chief Technology Officer agency systems.
Agency users of DDS can now load campaign details directly into MediaExplorer thanks to DDS’s new CASPEX import facility, automat - ing a previously manual process which involved time consuming and error prone re-keying of information.
We’re reaching the end of the pilot phase and the link will be rolled out to interested agencies from the end of March.
For more information on the CARIA® Agency Link, search “Caria” on our website or email [email protected] .
Faster Online Flash Test Site Also in December (how did we fit in Christmas too?) we upgraded our internet connection to Sohonet, meaning anyone on the Sohonet net - work will be able to upload their a/v material to Onlineflashtest.com Clearcast’s mission is to make it easier to get ads to air. at near uncontended gigabit speeds. Even if you are not on Sohonet, Although we’re best known for copy clearance, we are active you will still have greatly improved access to the site as our internet in a number of other areas too. Here are two recent en - connectivity has doubled in speed. hancements we’ve implemented with our partners that will significantly help the media buying and production commu - nities: So good news all round!
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We also believe it’s important to understand how the people we deal Getting to with work – the better an understanding we have of this, the better equipped we are to try and be responsive to people’s needs and adapt know you as required. This is something we always have in mind, but last year this became an official company objective and everyone at Clearcast Jo Walker-Davidson has been looking at ways of getting to know and learn about YOU! Copy Group Executive
There are many different ways we’ve been trying to meet this objective including simply getting out there and visiting offices to meet people and see where they work, more in-depth and formal visits to learn about the mechanics of the organisation, their key clients and ethos, and even doing work experience!
In July, my colleague Michelle Farquharson and I spent the afternoon with the lovely people at the Picture Production Company in their Soho office. We had a tour of the building and got to see their technical facilities including a video editing suite, voice-recording studios and the technical area where the hardware is stored that allows them to amend the format of videos. It gave us a real appreciation for all the work that goes on behind scenes and all the extra work that is done out-with their dealings with Clearcast.
At time of writing, Michelle is doing a placement with Channel 4 and we’ll be reporting on that in a future edition of the Newsletter. Clearcast is always looking for ways to build on our relation - ships within the wider broadcast advertising community. Anna Morris, Copy Group Executive, recently visited Betfair at their We aim to be approachable and available when external con - offices in Hammersmith: tacts need our assistance and are constantly looking at ways to ensure people understand who we are, what our “At Betfair we talked to people in their Marketing and legal de - processes are and how we work. partment about their day to day jobs, and we got an overview of
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the history of the company. They gave us a very helpful overview how big Sky is; (in terms of the actual facilities) the company is of the betting industry, and explained various aspects of betting effectively like a village. We were also taken to see Sky Sports such as horse racing, which we found very beneficial, not being and Sky News, where we learnt about how transmission works, gamblers ourselves. Betfair also showed us various features on which included watching all of the live feeds come in and watch - their recently updated website, pointing out helpful guides to ing the Technical Director switch between cameras and sound betting, and explaining example odds to us. We got an insight inputs. We also saw Sky News being filmed with the presenter into the day to day workings of Betfair, and the process of an ad and were shown how all the cameras are controlled.” from initial ideas, to submitting it to Clearcast. We also talked about our daily routine at Clearcast, and about the best formats In a future edition of the Newsletter we’ll be learning more about Elliot for substantiation, which they found very helpful. I learnt lots Lord’s week of work experience on placement with Mother. about odds and placing bets! I felt like I understood how betting works, and also how their company operates and sees itself We’re always keen to learn more about the agencies, advertisers and within the industry. We also had a brief chat about the betting broadcasters we work with so if you would like to invite us in to tell us industry within the context of the current economic climate, and what you’re all about, get in touch with your Clearcast contact! it was interesting to note that spending on betting etc has not noticeably reduced. People are still betting!”
Alex Cameron, Operations Assistant, visited the Sky offices in Osterley in July 2011 to participate in a training session and a tour of the offices:
“We had a tour of the offices and a couple of the studios and also got to see some of the backlots as well (eg Cricket AM). We also had a couple of star spots – John from East 17 and one of the Sky Sports presenters, Hayley McQueen (as we were watching them do some filming). We were shown the graphics department where they animate things such as the logos and were also told about the award-winning building, Sky Studios which uses sus - tainable energy, such as rainwater harvesting and solar power. We saw what each department did in Sky Creative and met some of the Traffic team who explained their roles to us. We learnt
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The Operations Department now consists of four Operations Assis - Traffic Department tants and two Operations Administrators (I am one of them). We’re keeping our core duties but now our roles are more streamlined so we becomes Operations can be more helpful than ever.
Danny Turner Operations is now organised in a way that enables us to best support Operations Administrator the areas that are busiest at any particular time. Two Ops Administra - tors can work flexibly across all areas of the department wherever needed; this could be over general busy periods or to cover absence due to holiday or sickness. If an Ops Assistant is away then an Ops Ad - ministrator will actively work from their portfolio to get the relevant ads pushed through to the Copy Clearance Execs. All ads are now up - loaded digitally and this has definitely had an impact on the ingest numbers, so there is now more cover for that too.
We now start a little later at 9.30am, meaning we can stay later on in the day to support our Copy Clearance Execs and Agencies.
All Operations Assistants now sit in on the morning viewing at least once a week to gain a greater understanding of what is seen and agreed by the Copy Clearance Execs. This helps to integrate all departments so that we all know what is happening across all departments. We hope this will more seamlessly bridge the gap between Copy and Admin roles.
“So what happened to the Systems Administrator and the technical We’ve been Traffic for many years, but towards the end of support that he offered?” I hear you cry. Well you will be pleased to last year as part of Clearcast’s focus on improving the service know that I am still here, with the added bonus of a mirror image. The that we provide, we reorganised and it was agreed we’re bet - role has been duplicated so that not only do I support our clients but ter named as the Operations Department. I am supported as well. “A 2 for 1” deal if you like.
28 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 29 Hellos, Goodbyes, Promotions and Babies! 32 Five minutes with a consultant 34 Inny & Outty 36 A Clearcast Profile: Micky 38 cast
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• Copy Group Manager Adam Bloxham became a proud father in No - Hellos, Goodbyes, vember. Vetoing our suggestion of Bieber, the lovely baby boy now goes by the name of Milo. Sadly a few weeks later we waved a fond Promotions and Babies farewell to Adam as he left to join Tag Worldwide. We patted Chris - tian Bew on the back as he was promoted to Copy Group Manager, Jonathan Laury taking over Adam’s team. Office Assistant
• It was a season of movement within Clearcast with Copy Executive Michael Haydon being appointed our new Training Programme Manager, revolutionising our courses in the process. Matthew Stevens joined us from the world of TV production to fill Michael’s Copy Exec shoes.
• Very soon we’ll be saying our tearful farewells to Melissa Marin who is leaving us for ITV. Andy Kenyon will be stepping up to fill her senior Copy Exec position.
• Jennie Park continues her tour of the office, moving from Opera - tions to become a Copy Exec almost before she had got used to the view and Vickie Adomako also celebrated as she became a perma - From left to right: Rosie Miller, Jonathan Laury, Carly Cormie, Mayee Lim, Matthew Stevens nent Copy Exec.
The times they’ve been a-changin’ at Clearcast with plenty of new faces • Other fast movers at Clearcast are Mayee Lim who arrived as Jen - and promotions, a handful of sad goodbyes and a cute baby: nie’s replacement in Ops and Jonathan Laury who took on the Of - fice Assistant role; both will soon be taking up Copy Exec positions • We said goodbyes to our MD’s Executive Assistant Ella Jenkins and to replace Andy Kenyon and Mani Sohanpal. Mani’s been promoted the Office Assistant Toni Parnell who left us in September. With a to Senior Exec to help with the upcoming expansion of our services. few seats to fill, we welcomed Rosie Miller as our new receptionist, Jonathan Laury as our Office Assistant and Carlie Cormie as the All in all, a busy few months with more to come! new Executive Assistant to the MD.
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Five minutes w ith… What is the worst part of being Clearcast consultant? Dr Mark Ide Sometimes the way that the language is being used! Compiled by Barry Noone Copy Group Executive What can advertisers do to speed up the approval of their claims? Dr Mark Ide works as a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Please please submit evidence that Restorative Dentistry within the Dental Institute at King’s College Lon - backs up the claims being made, ideally don and is head of the Department of Periodontology. He has been in - as scientific papers. Extrapolation is not volved in clinical dental research since 1991 and works in a specialist always the best way to go! We also need referral practice as a “real” dentist. As part of his role, he also teaches to see evidence of clinical benefit when such a claim is being made. dental students, specialist trainees and supervises a number of research projects. How does working with Clearcast compare with your usual work? My usual work is a mixture of research, teaching and clinical care of How long have you been a Clearcast consultant? patients, so it offsets that and compliments it nicely. It helps in explain - Since 2006, when I took over from Professor Tony Naylor, who taught ing to students how and why clinical trials are done (without giving me when I was a dental student! exact details, of course), in teaching about how to design studies and interpret their findings, and in educating patients and colleagues about What are your first impressions of working with Clearcast? what products are available and how effective they are. I felt a massive sense of responsibility but also the unknown, together with some excitement that I was going to be able to be involved with To read more about Dr Ide, go to the Dentistry page on our website. something that is quite important for the public as a whole. To arrange a Meet the Consultant session with him, email meetthe - [email protected] or contact Kristoffer Hammer on What are your favourite bits of working with Clearcast? [email protected] or 020 7339 4700 . Seeing an ad on tv that we improved by keeping the advertiser’s mes - sage, but at same time helping them stay within the bounds of reason and evidence, (so that people are informed and their oral health im - proved, but not with unrealistic expectations) is really rewarding.
34 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 35 CAST Inny: Outty: Victoria Adomako Helena Bullivant & Kate Myers Victoria Adomako joined Clearcast in the summer of 2007 as a Traffic Assistant. In 2011 she was promoted to Copy Group Executive Helena Bullivant & Kate Myers founded micro ad agency Hero in 2009 Who was your best boss and why? Hmmm really struggling here… I can’t really pick just one, there have been Who was your best boss and why? quite a lot of awesome and influential ones, I’ve been pretty lucky. HB - Dave Trott at GGT. He was scary but massively inspiring.
Weirdest thing you have eaten on holiday? Weirdest thing you’ve eaten on holiday? I went to visit my grandmother in Russia, and ate mashed pork, reshaped KM - Whilst stranded on an island I pulled limpets from the rocks and made back into a pig’s head and covered in a thick savoury jelly coating which was soup. a slightly off-yellow colour. I was only 7 at the time. It was all rather weird. What’s the best thing about your job? What is the best the best thing about your job? HB - Seeing a project right through from the beginning to the end is really The people I work with. They’re a pretty fabulous bunch of people, bless them. satisfying.
What song are you listening to at the moment? What song are you listening to the most at the moment? I’m listening to the new SBTRKT album at the moment, it’s pretty cool. HB - We’re both loving ‘Plan B’ by my step-daughter Lily Juniper.
Your favourite TV ad of the last 3 months? Your favourite TV ad of the last three months? This has been around a bit longer than 3 months, but it has to be the Craven - KM - Our ad for Big Brother Bingo (directed by Pete Lewtas). The turnover dale ad – cats with thumbs! Meow! was crazy but with help from the guys at Absolute Post we made it happen.
If you could give advice to your 16 year old self, what would it be? If you could give advice to your 16 year old self, what would it be? Be patient, slow down… you’ll miss these days. Also stay away from tattoo HB - Roll with the punches, advertising is your dream and you will get there. and piercing parlours. What would you change about the advertising industry in the UK? What would you change about the advertising industry in the UK? KM - I’d like more risk taking. Brands, please be brave. Wouldn’t it be nice if Clearcast execs had to accompany agency folk to any for - eign (ideally tropical!) locations for shoots, purely to make sure they’re sticking If you had a super power, what would it be and why? to the code of course and absolutely nothing to do with my sun tan… ;-) KM - We don’t need a super power, Hero are already super (grin).
If you could have a super power, what would it be and why? I’d be invisible… imagine how much fun you would have with that! ;-)
36 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 37 CAST Profile: Micky Vansittart Our Poppy Poppet
Profile compiled by Gillian Kirby Copy Group Executive
Every year millions of Britons buy Remembrance Day poppies to remember the fallen or to show support for serving soldiers, and Copy Group Exec Micky Vansittart was no exception. "I'm an ex-Army brat and my brother is about to embark on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, so the Poppy has always been a staple accessory for our family every November."
However, while the standard poppy design is both iconic and striking, there is one thing it doesn’t do: bling. And that gave Micky some inspiration. "I used to work for an events production company, and was fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on off-cuts of some amazing fabrics. Four years ago, nearing Remembrance Day, I made a few poppies for myself and family out of some of the red and black glitter off-cuts."
Micky transformed the poppy symbol from its humble paper origins into a sleek, sparkly brooch and it wasn't long before everybody wanted one.
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So what came of Micky’s hard work? “After a month of stencilling, cut - ting, gluing, pinning, posting, re-posting and treading glitter through - out the entire house”, she tells me, “over 250 poppies were put together, raising £1,040 with Gift Aid for the Poppy Appeal. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so popular, so thank you to everyone who bought one!”
Now poppy season is over, the talented Micky has been turning her hand to other things. “Amongst the small crafty stuff, there’s an on- going button art project which should involve around 5000+ buttons. I’ve lost count and keep buying more, thanks to Betty, my Islington button dealer! Perhaps it will be ready in another 3 years?” And it’s not just handcrafts, either. “I’m getting more into photography and have been venturing around London making short time lapse videos. So that’s been nice…”
“They’re rather eye catching and I offered to make a few for the guys Despite the hard work and cost involved, Micky feels that the money at work which raised a little one year, and a little bit more the next. I raised far outweighs the hand cramps and never-ending glitter dust. had run out of my off-cuts by 2011 and decided to buy new fabric and So will we see more poppies in 2012? “Around summer time I will start open it up to the world of Twitter to see how it would go.” Social media, setting up and have a rethink about a slightly different design to utilise with all the anonymity it can carry, seems like a difficult way to raise more of the fabric.” So how can you get your hands on them? “There money, but Micky managed it. “As I wanted people to trust a stranger, will be a web link available later in the year with details on how to the main pull was that 100% of the cost of the poppy would go direct order for 2012 – so perhaps in the meantime people could make a note to the appeal.” And the poppy quickly went from something for Micky’s of [email protected] and email me nearer the time?” family, to a fundraising sensation. “Friends wearing my poppies were getting stopped in the street and asked where they got them from so The glitter poppy will be blooming on a lapel near you come Novem - my details were passed over… within two weeks I had completely sold ber, and once again there will be a tired but happy Ms Vansittart be - out. Every single flake of glitter was accounted for, and I had to start hind it all. refusing orders. Happily, one did make it on to the lapel of a lunchtime news presenter.”
40 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 41 Dear Jackie 44 Did you Know…? 46 the back page
42 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 43 THE BACK PAGE
It’s hugely important that LOCOG (The London Organising Committee Dea r Jackie… of the Olympic Games) protect that investment otherwise the funding model wouldn’t work and the whole thing would go tits skyward leav - ing LOCOG unable to meet its revenue targets which would have a knock on effect on both the quality of the games and the potential UK Your ad problems solved by our resident agony aunt sporting legacy.
To aid them in this, LOCOG have a raft of legal rights which they will Dear Jackie use to prevent ‘ambush marketing’ and any other activity that may be damaging by associating itself with London 2012. You seem to be the all round oracle at Clearcast so I‘d like to ask why on earth I can’t get approval on scripts for my client. The ad is just The advice issued on this by LOCOG is that, “An Association with Lon - for a soft drink but it can’t be approved because it features some don 2012 can be created by the use of any words, images or marks, or, scenes of athletics. I’ve been told it’s because of the Olympics, but I re - more likely, a combination of these, For example: athletic images, rep - ally don’t see what my script has to do with that – we don’t mention resentations of an Olympic-style torch and flame, the colours of the the Olympics at all so surely this shouldn’t be a problem, right!? Olympic rings, words or iconic images which evoke the spirit of 2012 Games, and other representations relating to the Games may each con - Thanks, Janice tribute to the creation of an association with 2012 Games”.
So as you can see Janice, this is a wide net that’s been thrown and Clearcast, although not a legal body, are doing you and your client a Janice, dearest. As the oracle of Delphi was to the ancients, so I shall huge favour by pointing out that your script may well be in breach and be to you. Well, perhaps minus the vapours. you should perhaps seek a legal view or talk to LOCOG about it.
It’s understandable that advertisers want to use the Games to increase I hope that’s helped explain the position to you, Janice. Did you apply their business profits and increase brand awareness by linking their for tickets? An admirer has given me some for Handball, Fencing and products in some way with London 2012. The problem for you is that Field Hockey. the 2012 Games brand is an extremely valuable asset which is sold to help fund the event to sponsors and merchandise licensees who invest I shan’t be going. huge sums to get exclusive rights on the association with London 2012. Ms. J Stone
44 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 45 THE BACK PAGE Did you know…
Curious observations of late
• We have some guidance for you on how to get your QR codes right in your ads. So, scan the below QR code to be taken to the relevant tips on our website.
Welcome to Clearcast brochure Jeff Eales in Hello Dolly!
• We have just released a Welcome to Clearcast brochure, which is a useful handy-sized guide for advertisers and agencies. The brochure introduces readers to who we are in the wider context of UK adver - tising, where we sit in relation to ASA, BCAP and the Codes, how copy clearance works, some of our extra services and some useful FAQs. If you would like a copy or know anyone else who might, send an email request to [email protected] or search for the PDF on our site under “ welcome brochure ”
• One of our Board Members, Jeff Eales from Sky, recently played Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly! “with style” at the Watford Playhouse, according to the Harrow Times .
• In 2011 we read approximately 32,000 scripts and watched almost 64,000 ads! Seventy-six ads cleared by us were judged by the ASA Or if you’d prefer, search “ QR codes ” on our website. to have breached the Codes, equivalent of 0.1% of the ads we saw.
46 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 Clearcast Newsletter · Spring 2012 47 Clearcast Ltd. 4 Roger Street London WC1N 2JX T +44 (0) 20 7339 4 700 E [email protected] W www.clearcast.co.uk